Things are a little different this Thanksgiving in the Schumacher household. Last year, son Jerry came home to the South Side of Chicago triumphantly late in the day after helping Illinois clinch its first outright Big Ten title since 1983 with a victory over Northwestern.

This year, the Illini are home for the holidays after coming up short in their bowl quest. They finished strong, winning four of six, including an overtime loss to Ohio State. But a 1-5 start proved to be too much to overcome.

Since last year's glorious football campaign, the Schumachers have known other setbacks. Jerry's sister, Katie, who finished a stellar volleyball career at Penn State last season that included a national championship, is revising her plans after the pro volleyball team she had hoped to join folded.

	“	This is the first time in a while that we're all home, so it's going to be a great Thanksgiving. Even though last year was pretty sweet, winning the Big Ten championship, any time you're with the family, it's great. We're one of those families that does things together. ”
		— Illinois LB Jerry Schumacher

Of greatest concern, Jerry's father, Jerry Sr., who was diagnosed with prostate cancer earlier this year, is currently undergoing radiation treatment. But that treatment is proceeding well, leaving the family with much to be thankful for when it gathers around the dinner table.

"This is the first time in six years everyone's been home for Thanksgiving dinner. That will be special," said Jerry Jr.'s mother, Cathy Schumacher. "Katie always traveled or played on Thanksgiving weekend. And our other son, Brian, played football at Mount Carmel [the high-school powerhouse that has produced NFL standouts such as Donovan McNabb and Simeon Rice and is a regular participant in the football playoffs that culminate on Thanksgiving weekend]. Last year was really tough for us, trying to always have somebody at the kids' games. What a dilemma that was."

This year, things are a little more settled down. Home for Thanksgiving will be Brian, a freshman at Illinois who's not playing organized sports; Katie, who's a volunteer assistant coach with the Illinois volleyball team; older daughter, Karen, a Chicago schoolteacher like her mother, and Jerry Jr., who led Illinois, and was among the Big Ten leaders, in tackles.

"This is the first time in a while that we're all home, so it's going to be a great Thanksgiving," Jerry Jr. said. "Even though last year was pretty sweet, winning the Big Ten championship, any time you're with the family, it's great. We're one of those families that does things together."

After the turkey has been digested, Jerry Jr. will turn to his next athletic goal, playing professionally. That's a tall order for a player who wasn't heavily recruited coming out of Mount Carmel because of his size.

"Coming out of high schooI, I wasn't the biggest or fastest. A a lot of people didn't think I could play," Schumacher said. "I proved a lot of people wrong, and I'm going to have to prove some more people wrong to get to the next level."

In that pursuit, Jerry will rely on the guidance of his father, who was an offensive lineman at Michigan in the late '60s and early '70s under Bo Schembechler.

When they say their Thanksgiving prayers, the Schumachers will give thanks for another blessing. On Feb. 13, 1997, Jerry Schumacher Sr., a heavy equipment operator for the city of Chicago, survived a frightening ordeal.

"He was working on a barge in the Chicago River, and he had to walk across a plank that was covered with ice," the younger Schumacher said. "He was the first one at work that morning, and he slipped and fell into the river. No one knew that he had fallen."

For 20 minutes, Schumacher struggled to stay alive in the freezing water. Finally, a passerby noticed him and threw him a life preserver.

"That was horrific," Mrs. Schumacher said. "Thank goodness somebody was walking across that bridge that day."

"You take things for granted, but you never what life's going to bring," Jerry Jr. said, adding that the family now is rallying behind Jerry Sr. in his cancer battle. "We're putting other things on the back burner. Things can wait. Family can't."

In light of tumultuous events like that, Jerry Jr. has found it easier to swallow the disappointment of not going out at Illinois with a winning season and another bowl trip.

"We struggled in the first part of the season, but the way we finished up made me proud," he said. "You can't ask for more than the way we finished."

And when the Schumachers stop and reflect during this Thanksgiving holiday, they'll have a very real appreciation for the saying that it's not how you start, it's how you finish that matters. That, and family.

Herb Gould covers college football for the Chicago Sun-Times.